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Notre Dame will not be joining the Big Ten

MichaelRR

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Mar 17, 2022
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After spending this whole long weekend sick and reading stuff online, I think ND's AD is such a complete moron he has them in a position they have NO control over their destiny.

First their is their partial conference membership, they can buy out of that for about $50 million, BUT they still will not have ownership of any of their home games but football until 2035. That lowers their value to any conference. Those rights belong to the ACC and ESPN, and since ESPN seems to not be getting much out of the current Big Ten negotiations, they are not going to lift a finger to help move ND to Fox affiliated Big Ten. Oh, and any conference vote to allow an exception to the Grant of Rights has to be UNANIMOUS per the contract.

Second, there is a clause that if ND joins a conference it HAS TO BE ACC, no escape clause. For ND to join the Big Ten they have to convince the majority of ACC schools to let them out of the contract for whatever astronomical amount they might ask for if they would even allow a buyout or just be in breach of contract and accept whatever penalties the courts would slam them with, which might still include enforcing the contract and forcing ND to join the ACC.

Third, Same contract obligates ND to 5 games with the ACC every year until 2034, more than they would have non-conference games to play. Again no escape clause or buyout clause in the contract... ND screwed the pooch so bad on this deal Swarbrick should have been fired for negotiating it.

ND has ZERO leverage in this situation, they are a hostage to the ACC for the next 12 years and are tied to them like a freaking anchor. The only way out I see for them? The SEC, moving from one ESPN house to another ESPN could grease the wheels for them, provide some incentives to the ACC to make it happen and get ND all settled into the SURE EVERYONE CHEATS conference where I am sure they will thrive and be happy.... LOL
 
Good for the University of Norma Desmond!!


Gloria Swanson Quote GIF by Top 100 Movie Quotes of All Time
 
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After spending this whole long weekend sick and reading stuff online, I think ND's AD is such a complete moron he has them in a position they have NO control over their destiny.

First their is their partial conference membership, they can buy out of that for about $50 million, BUT they still will not have ownership of any of their home games but football until 2035. That lowers their value to any conference. Those rights belong to the ACC and ESPN, and since ESPN seems to not be getting much out of the current Big Ten negotiations, they are not going to lift a finger to help move ND to Fox affiliated Big Ten. Oh, and any conference vote to allow an exception to the Grant of Rights has to be UNANIMOUS per the contract.

Second, there is a clause that if ND joins a conference it HAS TO BE ACC, no escape clause. For ND to join the Big Ten they have to convince the majority of ACC schools to let them out of the contract for whatever astronomical amount they might ask for if they would even allow a buyout or just be in breach of contract and accept whatever penalties the courts would slam them with, which might still include enforcing the contract and forcing ND to join the ACC.

Third, Same contract obligates ND to 5 games with the ACC every year until 2034, more than they would have non-conference games to play. Again no escape clause or buyout clause in the contract... ND screwed the pooch so bad on this deal Swarbrick should have been fired for negotiating it.

ND has ZERO leverage in this situation, they are a hostage to the ACC for the next 12 years and are tied to them like a freaking anchor. The only way out I see for them? The SEC, moving from one ESPN house to another ESPN could grease the wheels for them, provide some incentives to the ACC to make it happen and get ND all settled into the SURE EVERYONE CHEATS conference where I am sure they will thrive and be happy.... LOL
Pity.

I guess there is always the option of robbing three of the following UVA, VT, UNC, BC, and/or Clemson (to meet the 5 team requirement). Then adding 4 PAC-10 teams.
 
After spending this whole long weekend sick and reading stuff online, I think ND's AD is such a complete moron he has them in a position they have NO control over their destiny.

First their is their partial conference membership, they can buy out of that for about $50 million, BUT they still will not have ownership of any of their home games but football until 2035. That lowers their value to any conference. Those rights belong to the ACC and ESPN, and since ESPN seems to not be getting much out of the current Big Ten negotiations, they are not going to lift a finger to help move ND to Fox affiliated Big Ten. Oh, and any conference vote to allow an exception to the Grant of Rights has to be UNANIMOUS per the contract.

Second, there is a clause that if ND joins a conference it HAS TO BE ACC, no escape clause. For ND to join the Big Ten they have to convince the majority of ACC schools to let them out of the contract for whatever astronomical amount they might ask for if they would even allow a buyout or just be in breach of contract and accept whatever penalties the courts would slam them with, which might still include enforcing the contract and forcing ND to join the ACC.

Third, Same contract obligates ND to 5 games with the ACC every year until 2034, more than they would have non-conference games to play. Again no escape clause or buyout clause in the contract... ND screwed the pooch so bad on this deal Swarbrick should have been fired for negotiating it.

ND has ZERO leverage in this situation, they are a hostage to the ACC for the next 12 years and are tied to them like a freaking anchor. The only way out I see for them? The SEC, moving from one ESPN house to another ESPN could grease the wheels for them, provide some incentives to the ACC to make it happen and get ND all settled into the SURE EVERYONE CHEATS conference where I am sure they will thrive and be happy.... LOL
I agree with you that ND screwed themselves. They never factored into the equation that the evolution of NCAA programs would evolve as they have. An important point to remember: I believe that ND broke an agreement for a game a Mackey a number of years ago. If I am incorrect, I hope that someone corrects me. My point is the following: ND seems to be in the business of breaking agreements; first there is the game with Purdue and now there is the potential attempt to break the deal with the ACC. Why would it be reasonable to assume that anything that they commit to would be honored when the next shiny thing comes along?
 
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I agree with you that ND screwed themselves. They never factored into the equation that the evolution of NCAA programs would evolve as they have. An important point to remember: I believe that ND broke an agreement for a game a Mackey a number of years ago. If I am incorrect, I hope that someone corrects me. My point is the following: ND seems to be in the business of breaking agreements; first there is the game with Purdue and now there is the potential attempt to break the deal with the ACC. Why would it be reasonable to assume that anything that they commit to would be honored when the next shiny thing comes along?
Which seems to be why the ACC locked them down hard in a contract with no exit language........ ND's recourse is to beg for release or go through the courts and take their lumps that way...... no one is going to bail them out of this mess..... stupid should hurt and their contract with the ACC is nothing but mounds of stupid from their perspective. They are now Wake Forest's bitch because the small ACC schools know what letting ND go would do to harm the conference and they have no where else to run....
 
I'll add a little speculation. what if Clemson, Miami and FSU joined the SEC and UNC, Virginia and Duke joined the BIG 10 and there was basically nothing left of the ACC ? and it folded? Would that free up notre dame?

What i see is a power struggle between ESPN and FOX. on the other hand, if FOX loses its law suit against the Dominion, there could be nothing left of the FOX network.

in related news, the current NCAA championship format only lasts through 2026. ND has said it wants its football team to remain independent. But without any championship to play for and bring in $$$$$$, things could change.
 
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I have seen numerous articles within the last couple of days still saying Notre Dame being a possible addition for the BT and SEC.

Even if there are certain restrictions, I don’t see that holding Notre Dame back from proceeding, if it is something they want to do.

That is the main question. Do they want to stay “independent” or not.
 
I'll add a little speculation. what if Clemson, Miami and FSU joined the SEC and UNC, Virginia and Duke joined the BIG 10 and there was basically nothing left of the ACC ? and it folded? Would that free up notre dame?

What i see is a power struggle between ESPN and FOX. on the other hand, if FOX loses its law suit against the Dominion, there could be nothing left of the FOX network.

in related news, the current NCAA championship format only lasts through 2026. ND has said it wants its football team to remain independent. But without any championship to play for and bring in $$$$$$, things could change.
There are 15 teams in the ACC, it would take a minimum of 8 if only needing a majority, but I think its 2/3s to fold the conference, so you would have to get 10 teams to vote to end the ACC as a conference, otherwise ND is still contractually bound to whoever is left. That is why I am saying ND is now Wake Forest's bitch, because as long as Wake can hold enough teams together to keep the conference from being voted out of existence, ND has no recourse but the courts.
 
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I have seen numerous articles within the last couple of days still saying Notre Dame being a possible addition for the BT and SEC.

Even if there are certain restrictions, I don’t see that holding Notre Dame back from proceeding, if it is something they want to do.

That is the main question. Do they want to stay “independent” or not.
ND's contract with the ACC has no exit clause, so their only way out is breach of contract and settling the ensuing lawsuit, which could still force them to "Make the contract whole" and join the ACC or no conference at all. The ACC has zero reason to let ND off the hook of this horrendous contract and could set the buyout at 4 billion and ND has no real recourse. Its a massive cluster. ND's only possible ally is ESPN, who will not lift a finger to help ND go to Fox affiiate BT, but night grease the wheels for ND to get into the SEC.
 
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ND's contract with the ACC has no exit clause, so their only way out is breach of contract and settling the ensuing lawsuit, which could still force them to "Make the contract whole" and join the ACC or no conference at all. The ACC has zero reason to let ND off the hook of this horrendous contract and could set the buyout at 4 billion and ND has no real recourse. Its a massive cluster. ND's only possible ally is ESPN, who will not lift a finger to help ND go to Fox affiiate BT, but night grease the wheels for ND to get into the SEC.
Serious question, where are you getting all of this contract information? I have not seen one person report that the information is available, so this and the original post all seem like speculation. They do have a way out, and it seems like the obvious outcome at this point, which is the conference dissolves. The majority of speculation I’ve seen is that it would take 8 members leaving (or the addition of any other program into the ACC) to break the GOR. The most likely scenario is the conference is dissolved when this is all said and done and the contract is voided.
 
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I’m not as pessimistic as you are. They can negotiate their fees down. How far down? I don’t know, but the ACC might prefer that than years of court battles. Secondly, their exit fees are nowhere near as high as full time ACC schools.

Most importantly, I don’t see any experts who follow this full time saying that ND has its hands completely tied. By all accounts the BT went to ND. They wouldn’t have even started the conversation if it was well known in those circles that the ACC contracts were written in stone.
 
I’m not as pessimistic as you are. They can negotiate their fees down. How far down? I don’t know, but the ACC might prefer that than years of court battles. Secondly, their exit fees are nowhere near as high as full time ACC schools.

Most importantly, I don’t see any experts who follow this full time saying that ND has its hands completely tied. By all accounts the BT went to ND. They wouldn’t have even started the conversation if it was well known in those circles that the ACC contracts were written in stone.
The B1G would not necessarily have had a copy of the ND/ACC contract.

Also, the question is not that of the exit fees. It is after paying those can they join another conference for football? The exit fees are for the non-football sports. Once they pay them it apparently does not let football go to another conference. They would need unanimous consent to waive that clause; how likely is that?

A court fight could take years, but so what? The ACC could probably get an injunction preventing ND from joining another conference pending adjudication. So where would that leave ND? Who would they play? Plus the publicity would be awful. Also, the legal bills would be huge and if ND were to lose, it is likely that the ACC would seek to get their legal bills recouped from ND; and they would stand a good chance of that as well. ND is not in a good place in all of this.
 
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There are 15 teams in the ACC, it would take a minimum of 8 if only needing a majority, but I think its 2/3s to fold the conference, so you would have to get 10 teams to vote to end the ACC as a conference, otherwise ND is still contractually bound to whoever is left. That is why I am saying ND is now Wake Forest's bitch, because as long as Wake can hold enough teams together to keep the conference from being voted out of existence, ND has no recourse but the courts.
You are correct about the 10 votes. But also the ACC could add new schools to replace the ones leaving in order to maintain the quorum. BC and Syracuse are not likely to want to help ND, especially BC because ND has looked down on them for years. And remember, ND left the Big East where BC and Syracuse were members. How about the Miami/ND relationship? I bet those Catholics vs Convicts shirts are going to come back to haunt the Irish. Would Louisville look to aid ND? I doubt that. Wake Forest is likely never to vote for ND leaving as you have said. I doubt Va Tech thinks highly of the move either.
 
The ACC seems to have bigger problems than ND leaving. How are they going to compete with the relatively paltry TV contract they will be left with after the dust settles? They just do not have enough of a TV footprint to demand much more than they are getting, even with a part time ND on board. Ultimately, I think there are probably 10 schools that would vote to bail in order to see if they can land a spot with one of the remaining two mega conferences.
The Pitt-Wake Forest "championship" certainly did not help the conference.
 
The ACC seems to have bigger problems than ND leaving. How are they going to compete with the relatively paltry TV contract they will be left with after the dust settles? They just do not have enough of a TV footprint to demand much more than they are getting, even with a part time ND on board. Ultimately, I think there are probably 10 schools that would vote to bail in order to see if they can land a spot with one of the remaining two mega conferences.
The Pitt-Wake Forest "championship" certainly did not help the conference.
Oh, even ND joining the ACC full time and adding WVU as is now being rumored will not prop up the ACC football contract enough to compete with the BT and SEC. They are going to continue to fade to second tier status. There is also a rumor that the B12 is moving to swallow up 6 teams out of the PAC to try and compete for the big TV contracts. We are at the point of pull the trigger on Oregon and Washington soon, or have long assed trips out to LA that will make travel for the non-revenue sports utter hell.
 
where there is a TV network and a lawyer, there is always a way.

look at Cincy. they had an exit date from their conference, and their conference voted to allow them to leave early for a nice sum. $$$$$$

look at pro sports. athletes are constantly reworking their existing contracts.

I'm confident ND will do what's best for ND.

the big decision maker will be if the NCAA or whatever they will be called in the future changes the championship after 2026 leving out independents. without that revenue, ND will be forced to join a conference.


but as i said, where there is a network and a lawyer, there is always a way.
 
and as a poster said, if somebody here knows all those contractual obligations ND has, I'm sure the BIG 10 lawyers and FOX also know every loophole in that contract.
 
Pity.

I guess there is always the option of robbing three of the following UVA, VT, UNC, BC, and/or Clemson (to meet the 5 team requirement). Then adding 4 PAC what are your thoughts and anyone else’s thoughts about adding a team like Virginia and Virginia Tech to round out that DC/Philadelphia market? BC does not help us. VATech is a pretty solid football program, yes?
Would Virginia and Virginia Tech be a pretty good pick up for rounding out the DC well really greater greater DC viewing area? We already have Maryland and there’s a pretty decent following there maybe or we wouldn’t have gotten them?
Not sure when you go that direction I don’t have much experience on how the fans and their coverage on a map would be
 
Oh, even ND joining the ACC full time and adding WVU as is now being rumored will not prop up the ACC football contract enough to compete with the BT and SEC. They are going to continue to fade to second tier status. There is also a rumor that the B12 is moving to swallow up 6 teams out of the PAC to try and compete for the big TV contracts. We are at the point of pull the trigger on Oregon and Washington soon, or have long assed trips out to LA that will make travel for the non-revenue sports utter hell.
What do most of you think? We can purge whatever teams we want from the PAC12 Over the next couple of months or does it have to happen pretty quick?
And do you think that would go for pretty much any other school as well out of the ACC? And ask question LOL is the University of Cincinnati a good pick up? Or are they just too small time even though they are committed to building a brand new state of the art stadium. (they are a good medical school as well as an excellent engineer school but they’re endowment just isn’t that big but they have great basketball history going all the way back to Oscar Robinson)
 
What do most of you think? We can purge whatever teams we want from the PAC12 Over the next couple of months or does it have to happen pretty quick?
And do you think that would go for pretty much any other school as well out of the ACC? And ask question LOL is the University of Cincinnati a good pick up? Or are they just too small time even though they are committed to building a brand new state of the art stadium. (they are a good medical school as well as an excellent engineer school but they’re endowment just isn’t that big but they have great basketball history going all the way back to Oscar Robinson)
I suspect in two years the best of the PAC will be in the B12. If we wanted to add more in the west, I think we have about 15 months or there won't be anyone worth even thinking about.

VaTech makes about as much sense to add as Illinois St or Ball St.......or UCincy, OkSt, IowaSt, or any of the other list of really stupid suggestions that have been made. They don't meet ANY reasonable or logical explanation for inclusion and are a 5 hour drive from DC, not an influencer in that market AT ALL!!!!! UVA only for the academics.

The Big Ten academic arm pulls in 5 to 10 times the money in research that the Athletic arm does, so anyone making these ridiculous suggestions without considering the academics impact is not using their head for anything but a hat rack.
 
What do most of you think? We can purge whatever teams we want from the PAC12 Over the next couple of months or does it have to happen pretty quick?
And do you think that would go for pretty much any other school as well out of the ACC? And ask question LOL is the University of Cincinnati a good pick up? Or are they just too small time even though they are committed to building a brand new state of the art stadium. (they are a good medical school as well as an excellent engineer school but they’re endowment just isn’t that big but they have great basketball history going all the way back to Oscar Robinson)
1. I wouldn’t think there’s any urgency to add Pac12 schools. Whether they choose to merge with B12 or not, Oregon will always jump at the chance to join the B10. The B10 can afford to be patient.

2. the much talked about ACC Grant of Rights seems as ironclad as ever. We know this because the SEC has publicly stated they’re going to stick at 16 teams. If their lawyers thought they could poke holes in the GOR, likely a few schools would already be jumping from the ACC to the SEC. So no, the b10 can’t easily poach schools from the ACC.

3. The driver for B10 expansion has always been more money for its members. This can be done by either bringing a huge brand (Nebraska) or new markets (Rutgers, Maryland). But no matter what, Added schools must grow the pie. The new TV deal is going to be north of $1B per year. So the bar for entry has gotten very high: if a school doesn’t add about $80M per year in tv revenue, then they are a net drag on the conference. By all accounts the B10 declined to add Oregon because they simply don’t bring enough money to justify it - no current B10 school wants to take a financial haircut just for the opportunity to travel to Oregon. If Oregon doesn’t cut it, then you can imagine where Cincinnati lies.
 
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I suspect in two years the best of the PAC will be in the B12. If we wanted to add more in the west, I think we have about 15 months or there won't be anyone worth even thinking about.

VaTech makes about as much sense to add as Illinois St or Ball St.......or UCincy, OkSt, IowaSt, or any of the other list of really stupid suggestions that have been made. They don't meet ANY reasonable or logical explanation for inclusion and are a 5 hour drive from DC, not an influencer in that market AT ALL!!!!! UVA only for the academics.

The Big Ten academic arm pulls in 5 to 10 times the money in research that the Athletic arm does, so anyone making these ridiculous suggestions without considering the academics impact is not using their head for anything but a hat rack.
I agree. Wanted to make one more note though.

One of the long term goals of B10 expansion is to diversify out of the Midwest to combat the negative population trends of the “rust belt”.

Virginia is the 12th most populated state in the country and would have the highest % population growth over the last decade of any big ten state. Their inclusion would also open up fertile recruiting ground. As noted, they have great academics. I think their addition to the b10 makes a lot of sense, if not for that pesky ACC grant of rights.
 
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1. I wouldn’t think there’s any urgency to add Pac12 schools. Whether they choose to merge with B12 or not, Oregon will always jump at the chance to join the B10. The B10 can afford to be patient.

2. the much talked about ACC Grant of Rights seems as ironclad as ever. We know this because the SEC has publicly stated they’re going to stick at 16 teams. If their lawyers thought they could poke holes in the GOR, likely a few schools would already be jumping from the ACC to the SEC. So no, the b10 can’t easily poach schools from the ACC.

3. The driver for B10 expansion has always been more money for its members. This can be done by either bringing a huge brand (Nebraska) or new markets (Rutgers, Maryland). But no matter what, Added schools must grow the pie. The new TV deal is going to be north of $1B per year. So the bar for entry has gotten very high: if a school doesn’t add about $80M per year in tv revenue, then they are a net drag on the conference. By all accounts the B10 declined to add Oregon because they simply don’t bring enough money to justify it - no current B10 school wants to take a financial haircut just for the opportunity to travel to Oregon. If Oregon doesn’t cut it, then you can imagine where Cincinnati lies.
To point #3, Phil Knight and Nike add features to any conference. Nike has contracts with leagues far beyond B1G Globally.
 
1. I wouldn’t think there’s any urgency to add Pac12 schools. Whether they choose to merge with B12 or not, Oregon will always jump at the chance to join the B10. The B10 can afford to be patient.

2. the much talked about ACC Grant of Rights seems as ironclad as ever. We know this because the SEC has publicly stated they’re going to stick at 16 teams. If their lawyers thought they could poke holes in the GOR, likely a few schools would already be jumping from the ACC to the SEC. So no, the b10 can’t easily poach schools from the ACC.

3. The driver for B10 expansion has always been more money for its members. This can be done by either bringing a huge brand (Nebraska) or new markets (Rutgers, Maryland). But no matter what, Added schools must grow the pie. The new TV deal is going to be north of $1B per year. So the bar for entry has gotten very high: if a school doesn’t add about $80M per year in tv revenue, then they are a net drag on the conference. By all accounts the B10 declined to add Oregon because they simply don’t bring enough money to justify it - no current B10 school wants to take a financial haircut just for the opportunity to travel to Oregon. If Oregon doesn’t cut it, then you can imagine where Cincinnati lies.
The urgency is I fully expect any newly reconstituted PAC or B12 will have a GOR similar to ACC's to prevent further poaching. So that any further attempts to expand are going to become much more difficult to accomplish once the remaining "little 3" make their membership captives more than members.
 
The urgency is I fully expect any newly reconstituted PAC or B12 will have a GOR similar to ACC's to prevent further poaching. So that any further attempts to expand are going to become much more difficult to accomplish once the remaining "little 3" make their membership captives more than members.
Completely disagree. Do you think Oregon would sign that GOR??

The ACC GoR is a great deal for the lesser teams like BC and Syracuse. It’s a phenomenally bad deal for teams that could otherwise be making a lot more in the SEC like Clemson.

The BT is currently negotiating its TV contract. Once that is in place, there’s literally no urgency.
 
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Completely disagree. Do you think Oregon would sign that GOR??

The ACC GoR is a great deal for the lesser teams like BC and Syracuse. It’s a phenomenally bad deal for teams that could otherwise be making a lot more in the SEC like Clemson.

The BT is currently negotiating its TV contract. Once that is in place, there’s literally no urgency
Good take. I suspect the B12 hasn’t made any announcements as the other teams are waiting on big ten first.
 
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Completely disagree. Do you think Oregon would sign that GOR??

The ACC GoR is a great deal for the lesser teams like BC and Syracuse. It’s a phenomenally bad deal for teams that could otherwise be making a lot more in the SEC like Clemson.

The BT is currently negotiating its TV contract. Once that is in place, there’s literally no urgency.
Sign the GOR or get out, I don't see the conferences leaving themselves open to poaching if they can do ANYTHING to slow/stop it.
 
I suspect in two years the best of the PAC will be in the B12. If we wanted to add more in the west, I think we have about 15 months or there won't be anyone worth even thinking about.

VaTech makes about as much sense to add as Illinois St or Ball St.......or UCincy, OkSt, IowaSt, or any of the other list of really stupid suggestions that have been made. They don't meet ANY reasonable or logical explanation for inclusion and are a 5 hour drive from DC, not an influencer in that market AT ALL!!!!! UVA only for the academics.

The Big Ten academic arm pulls in 5 to 10 times the money in research that the Athletic arm does, so anyone making these ridiculous suggestions without considering the academics impact is not using their head for anything but a hat rack.
Minor nitpick, I have an aunt in NOVA, and she said VT is the most popular team in the area and gets regular coverage. Their physical location isn’t that important … for example, I live in Chicago and there are ten times as many Illini fans as Northwestern fans, regardless of where Champaign and Evanston are.

I agree VT is not a good add, though … mostly because we already have Maryland, lol.
 
Minor nitpick, I have an aunt in NOVA, and she said VT is the most popular team in the area and gets regular coverage. Their physical location isn’t that important … for example, I live in Chicago and there are ten times as many Illini fans as Northwestern fans, regardless of where Champaign and Evanston are.

I agree VT is not a good add, though … mostly because we already have Maryland, lol.
Excellent points. There are people here stuck in 2012 when bringing teams on board was about collecting a fee on all people in geographic regions who have the premium sports package. Now it’s about total subscriptions and tv ratings. People on Denver don’t care about Colorado and people in Phoenix could care less about ASU and AZ as very few actually went there or grew up cheering for them.
 
Sign the GOR or get out, I don't see the conferences leaving themselves open to poaching if they can do ANYTHING to slow/stop it.
But the conferences are made up of schools, and the powerful schools would be foolish to sign away their future. So I doubt the less powerful schools would bully the more powerful schools into signing anything like what the ACC has.

I can imagine some major regret about signing rights away at schools like Clemson, Miami, UNC, FSU, etc. they basically locked in lower earnings for the next 15 years with no way to renegotiate.
 
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But the conferences are made up of schools, and the powerful schools would be foolish to sign away their future. So I doubt the less powerful schools would bully the more powerful schools into signing anything like what the ACC has.

I can imagine some major regret about signing rights away at schools like Clemson, Miami, UNC, FSU, etc. they basically locked in lower earnings for the next 15 years with no way to renegotiate.

And while there may be a benefit to OSU/Michigan jumping to form a new conference with the other big names, it comes at the cost of then having to play those teams most weeks. No Indinia/Rutgers/Maryland "bye weeks" when you get Alabama then LSU then Penn State then Texas. I just don't know if there is any incentive for that type of change when the B1G is already going to rake in significantly more than likely even the SEC from media rights.

It's kind of the best of both worlds for OSU, IMO, they get to go 11-1 or better every year and make more money than anyone else.
 
But the conferences are made up of schools, and the powerful schools would be foolish to sign away their future. So I doubt the less powerful schools would bully the more powerful schools into signing anything like what the ACC has.

I can imagine some major regret about signing rights away at schools like Clemson, Miami, UNC, FSU, etc. they basically locked in lower earnings for the next 15 years with no way to renegotiate.
So, the PAC dumps Oregon for not signing their GOR, and the B12 decides Oregon doesn't add enough to justify the long trips, Oregon then is left being fully independent in all sports, which is going to make scheduling impossible or joining the WAC.... All it takes is the majority deciding to take a hard line with schools they know don't have a better option RIGHT NOW. The Big Ten turning down Oregon and the B12 apparently deciding to stand pat leaves OU with no viable choice but sign whatever the PAC puts in front of them or discontinue sports at a high level.
 
On a recruiting note. It would be kind of comical that they join and a former OSU stud taking them down. They're coming deeper into Indiana for our top receivers BJohnson(Northside and MGraham(New Haven) both competing schools. My personal thoughts are Tae Tae to ND and Graham to OSU.

Even though I despise ND, but like Freeman.
 
To point #3, Phil Knight and Nike add features to any conference. Nike has contracts with leagues far beyond B1G Globally.
But is Phil Knight going to pledge a set amount of annual Nike revenue (eg cash or maybe stock payouts via shares) to the other currently 16 BIG teams to make up for the gap in tv revenue the ducks are missing?? Even that solution is a risk to the BIG teams imo, because there is no guarantee Nike will be around in perpetuity once accepted.

Nobody cares about how adept Phil Knight is at pumping $ into his own duck program, like he has historically in trying to make it a ‘brand’. The other schools do care about what he and the ducks can do for them. Unless he is willing to adjust the math himself to make up for the shortfall, the ducks seem to be just another mouth to feed.
 
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But is Phil Knight going to pledge a set amount of annual Nike revenue (eg cash or maybe stock payouts via shares) to the other currently 16 BIG teams to make up for the gap in tv revenue the ducks are missing?? Even that solution is a risk to the BIG teams imo, because there is no guarantee Nike will be around in perpetuity once accepted.

Nobody cares about how adept Phil Knight is at pumping $ into his own duck program, like he has historically in trying to make it a ‘brand’. The other schools do care about what he and the ducks can do for them. Unless he is willing to adjust the math himself to make up for the shortfall, the ducks seem to be just another mouth to feed.
I laugh everytime someone brings up Phil knight. He is 84. He has a 6.4 year remaining life expectancy…
 
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